River Seine: Waters reopens to swimmers after century-long ban
Zones have changing rooms, showers, and beach-style furniture, which allow for up to 300 people to lay out their towels.Until the end of August, the three swimming sites will be open for free at scheduled times to anyone with a minimum age of 10 or 14 years, depending on the location.Lifeguards will also be present keeping an eye on those in the river.
Paris to bring back swimming in Seine after 100 yearsWould you swim in the Seine?
The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future president Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal.Improvements over the last 20 years have already led to a sharp reduction in faecal bacteria entering the river.For 100 years swimming was banned in the river because of the levels of water pollution that could make people ill.
Ahead of last summer's Olympics more than €1.4bn (£1.2bn; $1.6bn) was invested into cleaning up the Seine.But, in the lead up to the games there were doubts as to whether the River Seine would be ready for the Olympics after it was revealed it failed water quality tests.Organisers blamed rainfall for the increased pollution which limited athletes' abilities to train for the triathlon, marathon swimming and paratriathlon.Last July, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and other members of the Olympic committee went into the Seine to prove that it was safe to swim in.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
All Blacks hold off depleted France in thriller and Wales slump again in Japan
Will Jordan scored a try in each half and Beauden Barrett kicked to perfection as New Zealand overcame three cancelled tries to claim a nervous 31-27 win over France in the series-opener in Dunedin. Fielding only three players from the Six Nations title-deciding win over Scotland, the depleted France side gave Scott Robertson's team a huge scare in an entertaining match at a sold-out Forsyth-Barr stadium. However, a late Barrett penalty proved enough for the All Blacks to hold on, ending a three-match losing streak against Les Bleus. 'Just a typical Test match against the French for us,' said Jordan, who was denied a hat-trick try by the television match official. 'A couple of errors cost us … But we showed good composure to finish it off in the end there.' The All Blacks lost Sevu Reece to a head-knock less than a minute in when the wing clattered into a French hip, forcing Robertson into a backline rejig and Damian McKenzie to play at full-back off the bench. The French had a better start, with the debutant fly-half, Joris Segonds, booting a penalty in the seventh minute after Gabin Villière won a turnover penalty. France charged out to a 10-0 lead as Théo Attissogbe made a break down the left wing, Gaël Fickou drove the ball to the line and Mickaël Guillard crossed by the right post. Chastened, the All Blacks hit back hard. A Jordie Barrett try was denied by a knock-on in the buildup, but minutes later his brothers combined for their first legal try. Scott Barrett charged down a French clearing kick behind the 22m line before Beauden put Jordan over at the right corner with a superb, loop pass. McKenzie kept the momentum for the hosts, shrugging off four would-be tacklers with a jinking run to the posts before Tupou Vaa'i barged over to put the All Blacks four points up. The Barrett brothers struck again just before half-time, this time with Jordie touching down at the right corner after quick hands from Beauden and Jordan. The All Blacks' 21-13 lead all but disappeared within minutes of the restart, though, as Rieko Ioane spilled the kick-off ball forward to gift France a scrum deep in attack. Battering away for 16 phases, Segonds spread the ball wide to Villière who jogged through a gaping hole in the All Blacks' line on the right. The try-fest continued as Jordan burst through two defenders to cross for his second, with Beauden Barrett again setting up the chance. Fresh off the bench, Cameron Woki then crossed under the posts to peg back the All Blacks again. The pendulum swung back to the hosts with Villière shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. A minute later, Billy Proctor stretched an arm over the line – only for the try to be cancelled as replays showed an illegal grounding of the ball. The undermanned French soon buckled again, with Jordan seemingly crossing for his hat-trick try in the 63rd minute. But it was erased by the TMO, who spotted Pasilio Tosi obstructing a French defender in the buildup. Wales's interim head coach, Matt Sherratt, said his players were hurt by an 18th successive Test defeat as Japan recovered from a 12-point deficit to inflict further misery on the beleaguered tourists. Sherratt's side led 19-7 at the interval in Kitakyushu through tries from Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers, as well as a penalty try, and were in sight of claiming Wales' first win for 21 months. But Eddie Jones' Brave Blossoms stormed back in sweltering conditions, with the temperatures reaching 34C alongside a very high humidity reading, to win 24-19 and register only their second ever victory over Wales. 'I think you could see the feelings pitchside, not just the squad but the whole staff,' said Sherratt of the scenes at the final whistle. 'To have a 19-7 lead in the first half and to lose the game at the end is obviously very disappointing. It hurts. Already we've got to quickly use that hurt to fuel next week. The great thing about this tour is we get a chance next week to put it right.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Gregor Townsend was pleased to see Scotland's summer tour 'start on a positive' after his side held on to claim a 29-26 win against the Māori All Blacks in Whangarei. Having got off to a shaky start when Sam Nock crossed for the hosts, Scotland were able to clinch victory in the non-cap international with tries from Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and two either side of the break from George Horne. In a late scare the Māori reduce Scotland's lead to three points with 10 minutes to play, but Townsend was pleased to see his less experienced side prevail in Whangarei. The head coach said: 'The Māori are a quality side and I suppose we decided to put a team out tonight that wasn't as experienced knowing that it'll be a great development and learning experience for them. But we also wanted to win this game and we're so pleased that we did win the game and how we set that win up in the first half – how clinical we were. And then the pressure around set pieces and our defensive effort at the end saw us through. So, we're really pleased that the tour starts on a positive.' Hong Kong beat South Korea 70-22 in Incheon to win the Asia Rugby Championship and qualify for the World Cup for the first time. Hong Kong sides have got to the final stage of qualifying for the last two World Cups only to fall short but will now take their place at the expanded 24-team showpiece tournament in Australia in 2027. The United Arab Emirates beat Sri Lanka 29-21 in Colombo on Friday to finish second in the championship and will play off against an African nation in July for a spot at the final World Cup qualification tournament. Hong Kong are only the second team from Asia to get to the World Cup after Japan, who have already qualified after finishing third in their pool at the 2023 tournament in France. This story will be updated with later matches
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: stage one sets battle for yellow jersey around Lille
Update: Date: 2025-07-05T10:11:05.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Hello and welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the Tour de France 2025, starting with stage one in Lille. Today, the peloton will roll out from the northern French city at 1.10pm CEST (12.10pm BST) and tackle 184.9km on a flat stage that will loop back into Lille for what will most likely end in a bunch sprint. So, all eyes will be on sprinters such as Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier. I'd love to hear your predictions though, so please email them over. While we wait for the live TV coverage to kick off, here's some reading from our sports team who have been previewing this year's Tour: Tadej Pogačar v Jonas Vingegaard – The battle for the yellow jersey Who's who? Your stage-by-stage guide The Tour de France's version of VAR? Fifty years of finishes on Champs-Élysées
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Paris opens river Seine for public swimming for first time since 1923
PARIS, July 5 (Reuters) - Parisians rushed for a dip in the Seine on Saturday as the authorities opened the river to public swimming for the first time since 1923 after an extensive clean-up operation spurred on by it being used as a venue in the Paris Olympics. Three sites along the banks of the Seine in the city will be able to welcome over 1,000 swimmers daily until August 31, local officials said. "We're especially happy to have proved the sceptics wrong and to be able to deliver on the commitments we initially made, on something that was very big and very complicated to achieve," said Pierre Rabadan, Paris deputy mayor for the Seine river. The reopening of the Seine for public swimming follows efforts by authorities to improve its water quality so it could be used for Olympic events last summer. Investments included connecting tens of thousands of homes to the sewer system, upgrading water treatment facilities, and constructing large rainwater storage reservoirs to prevent sewer overflow during heavy storms. While delays, triggered by the health impact of heavy rains, impacted some Olympic training sessions and the men's triathlon event, competitions in the Seine eventually went ahead, bolstering confidence in the river's safety for public swimming. Daily water quality tests will be conducted during the swimming season, with green and red flags - similar to beach safety systems - indicating whether swimming areas are open or closed. "Obviously, if we open the swimming area it is because the water complies with the regulations, it poses absolutely no danger to the people who go swimming," Rabadan told Reuters. As well as the three sites within Paris, 14 swimming areas outside the capital's boundaries will be set up on the Seine and the Marne rivers. Two of those already opened on the Marne in June.
